Commissioner candidates to be guests at ACRW meeting

You have a great opportunity to decide which candidates for Archuleta County Commissioners to elect in November as Mike Hayward (Independent), Clifford Lucero (Democrat), and Steve Wadley (Republican) present their political viewpoints at an upcoming Archuleta County Republican Women meeting.

The meeting is from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, at Boss Hogg’s Restaurant. All are welcome and no reservations are required.

Clifford Lucero, Democrat running for re-election for Commissioner District 2, is a fourth-generation Pagosa native. He has been married to his wife, Gina, for 30 years, and has five children and four grandchildren. Clifford has been a volunteer in this community for 30 years, serving on a variety of boards from the school board to town council and has received awards including Citizen of the Year to Volunteer of the Year for the Archuleta County Fair. Clifford said he has always cared deeply for this community and feels fortunate to have served this community for the last four years, serving as chairman of the Board of County Commissioners for the last three years. He looks forward to serving Archuleta County for the next four years. He said he knows he will leave this county in better shape than it was when he first became a commissioner.

Some of Lucero’s goals for the coming year are: 1) Pave Piedra Road; 2) implement internal controls and performance measures; 3) continue to operate with only 152 FTEs; 3) explore all appropriate opportunities for increased county revenue; 4) improve customer service at all levels; 5) continue to improve relationships that he was instrumental in developing; 6) continue to examine organizational efficiencies; 7) work hard on lobbying for PILT; 8) continue with clean audits; and 9) continue to work hard for this community he cares so deeply about

Mike Hayward, independent, is running in Commissioner District 2, and has come out of retirement having a strong business and financial background to seek election because he believes he can have a positive impact on Archuleta County and Pagosa. He believes this background makes him a good candidate because he is an analytical thinker, team player and open to new ideas. The things Mike believes in are transparency and accountability, the value of including the community in setting direction and decision making, small government and low taxes, reasonable regulation, strong property rights, fiscal discipline, fresh ideas and harnessing the creative energy of the community.

Mike and his wife moved to Pagosa in July of 2000. His background includes a degree in business administration, six years in the Air Force and working in the corporate area (logistic, operations, strategic planning, business development, strategic alliances, and acquisitions) with GTE (Verizon), and then for Cisco Systems.

Republican Steve Wadley is running for re-election in District One. He sees 2013 as a challenging budget year as the general fund will be reduced due to declining property values. The commissioners, Steve believes, will have to prioritizes services to balance the budget. They will also need to continue to invite investment in our community and remain business friendly. Furthermore, the economic base needs to be expanded beyond home building and tourism. J.R. Ford’s forestry project will bring 20 new, well-paying jobs to our county. Geothermal energy has the potential to create many new types of businesses and jobs. While Wal-Mart has its critics, Steve believes that future sales tax revenues will have a positive impact on our county.

Wadley was born in Denver and grew up in Albuquerque, N.M. There, he worked as a full-time police officer for 23 years, achieving the rank of captain. During his final years with the department, he served as the commander of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, responsible for over 150 police employees. In 2000, Steve moved to Pagosa and his community service and volunteer work include the following: Archuleta County Human Services Citizen Review Board, Archuleta County Court Bond Reduction volunteer, GED proctor, Rotary Club member, Big Brother/Big Sister member, Humane Society board member and president, and high school football official for District 12 in Colorado.